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Cut Down On The Number Of Items You Take On A Picnic.

We do a lot of walking in our house and we nearly always take something with us to eat. We normally just take sandwiches which are light and easy to eat on the go, but sometimes we want to take a salad, rice or pasta, but don't want to lug around a metal fork all day. I know they're not that heavy, but they are rather long, enter the spork.

A spork is a piece of plastic around six inches long, you can get larger versions, which comes in a variety of colours, we've got red, yellow and black ones, which has a fork at one end and a spoon at the other. They are light weight and sturdy and will easily fit into an average sized sandwich box. As an added benefit one of the tynes on the fork has a serated edge which you can used to cut a piece of cheese or such like. I wouldn't want to try and use it to cut anything harder than this as it's not very sharp, but it will easily slice a banana.

This is a great little item, it cuts down on the number of items you have to carry on a day out in the country and is great for both hiking and picnics. It also saves on washing up when you get home too, and I'm big on cutting down on washing up, as one person only needs one spork, they can eat their salad with one end and then their dessert with the other. They would be great for a parent with a small toddler as well for when they want to take them out and mash up some fresh fruit for them.

I wouldn't be without my trusty spork now, it goes everywhere with me.

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A great cutlery item for the whole family.

~~~ The Back Story~~

Our daughter is now three years old, toilet trained and finally sleeping through the night on a regular basis. I am now in a better position to reflect on which toddler-related items I recommend as near necessities, those that would be "nice to have", and those that one could really do without.

Furthermore, I now actively seek out products that might make our lives easier.

I discovered this item in the Tesco's camping supplies area, and realised that this lightweight single item would be perfect for our daughter's lunchbox and for snacks on the go. A variant to Ford's colour choice was available: I could select any colour I wished, as long as it was green. It was priced at just 60p, so I bought two. I should have bought more - one has already made its way into my mother's life!

~~~ This Product ~~~

Traditionally, the spork is a combined spoon and fork (similar to the Australian Splayd) however this plastic model also has a knife component. According to Wikipedia, the term spork first appeared in the dictionary over a hundred years ago.

My item is a green plastic hybrid form of cutlery that is approximately 15cm long. At one end it has a broad spoon that is larger than a teaspoon and smaller than a dessert spoon. At the other end is a four-tined fork, with one edge of this fork being serrated and thus forming a knife.

This spork seems to be made of good-quality plastic, in that it is very sturdy and doesn't give the appearance or suggestion of being disposable.

~~~ My Experience ~~~

As an all-in-one cutlery utensil, this item has quickly made its way into our home and - very oddly- hearts! It has been used most as a spoon by our three year old daughter at breakfast time. She and I find the spoon to be much larger than the toddler-sized cutlery, but being lightweight the spork is much easier for her to manage and to manipulate.

The fork works perfectly well, and probably better than her toddler items, and the knife is sharp enough for most of our adult uses on the go and for Millie's food. Obviously it wouldn't be great for a piece of steak but I for one don't eat steak with plastic cutlery.

I have unfortunately discarded the tags that came with this item, so am unsure if it can be placed in the dishwasher. We hand wash our spork, and have found it to be cleaned and dried very easily.

Overall, we are very happy with the spork. I wish that I'd had one in our bumpy early months with Millie, when I seemed to be breastfeeding her non-stop or carrying her.

~~~ Recommended?~~~

Yes. A nice to have item. I'm off to buy some more!

Available from Tesco for 60p and Amazon.co.uk for £2 (as at July 2013).

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An essential part of your camping kit

Having spent many years using seperate utensils which clip together for camping one day the fork went missing and because of that unfortunate incident i ended up with a far superior product.

A spork combined all 3 cutlery items in one plastic item. At just 9g in weight its a very light item which is now one of the first items to be packed whether its a one night ramble or a week long holiday.

Metal separates have their uses and also downfalls. Having more than one item is great when you need to hold an item steady with a fork and cut with a knife but for me its a rare occurance that camp food requires such an approach and the sharp knife on a multitool can overcome this issue.

Using metal utensils for cooking will lead to shallow scratches in on the pots and pans, leading to burnt food and difficulty in washing up. The plastic spork causes no such issues and it is heat resistant so it may get slightly less firm but wont melt.

The fork prongs are sharp and firm enough to piece the majority of food and the knife sharp enough to cut through most although it does struggle with steaks and similar items.

Its very easy to clean as its a pretty non-stick design however once the plastic gets scratch a bit more a little more effort is needed and its also dishwasher proof so a good clean is easy once you've returned from your trip.

Costing £2 each its easy to see why most campers are seen with at least one and with 20 colours to pick from you wont be arguing over who's spork in who's.

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I like.

My brother goes camping with his family literally every weekend over the summer - and so when I see a good idea that would enhance his camping experience, I like to buy it for him (as long as its not too expensive!). I first saw the "Light My Fire Spork" in a Travel Book Shop in London and thought it was a great idea - although they were really highly priced in that shop and so I thought I'd look them up when I got home. I managed to get a pack of four Sporks from Amazon.co.uk for £6.30 - which included the next-day delivery price also. I have since bought a packet for my kids to put in their lunch boxes.

Basically, the Light My Fire Spork is a utensil which acts as a knife, fork and spoon all in one and so it is really convenient for camping, picnics and lunch boxes. The way that it works is that at one end is the fork, at the other end is the spoon - and the knife which is less obvious is the bit in the middle and on one side of the fork. They come in a variety of bright colours - and in a plastic-type version and a Titanium version. I have bought the pack of four plastic-type version which contains a blue, green, yellow and red Spork. I did like the Titanium version but I felt that the coloured plastic versions were just more child friendly.

In my experience, the Sporks work really well - particularly the spoon and fork parts of the utensil. The prongs are pointy enough to go easily into all foods I have tried it with, and the spoon is about as deep as a teaspoon (5mls) which is okay if you're eating yoghurt, but a bit of a pain if you're eating soup! The knife can be a bit tricky to use as its not that sharp (hence kid friendly!) and it's hard to use it without another Spork to hold onto the food. However, if you are eating picnic style food (which generally is what my kids eat in their lunch boxes or what my brothers' family eat when camping) then its good enough.

Because the Spork is made of thick plastic, it is very durable and can put up with practically anything and everything that's thrown at it. It's easy to clean by hand, but it can go in the dishwasher if you prefer. Even with a lot of washing and use, the colours remain bright and scratch free. I also like how incredibly light the Sporks are - weighing just 8g each - which is very impressive considering how sturdy they are!

I think the Sporks are a good buy for anyone that goes camping, goes on picnics or makes packed lunches. They are fun, convenient and built to last. Oh, and I love the name!